


Fear of the Unknown

by alex_kade



Category: The Losers (2010), The Losers (Comic), The Losers - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Blood, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Swearing, Teamwork, Technology
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-05-16
Updated: 2014-03-03
Packaged: 2018-01-14 10:12:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1262464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alex_kade/pseuds/alex_kade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Losers narrowly escape from their last mission only to find that something is horribly wrong with their hacker...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fear of the Unknown (Chapter 1)

**Author's Note:**

> Yes! To anyone who is already familiar with this work, I _am_ posting it on here! What does that mean? That I have every intention of continuing it!
> 
> ....And to use it as an excuse to shamelessly plug the big interactive web series project that I'm working on in which fans of the show are encouraged to submit and could potentially be paid for their fanfic content.
> 
> Yeah. Paid. By the network of a TV series.
> 
> For more info, check out this link: 
> 
> <http://www.weheart-tv.com/2014/03/interactive-tv-watching.html>

"Whoo! Now _that_ was a rush!" Jensen yells as his head breaks the surface of the water. "I mean, they _say_ white-water rafting is a thrill, but throw in a bunch of guys with guns and a forty foot waterfall, and you've got yourself a trip more exciting than Disneyland!"

The other members of the team surface at nearly the same time, sputtering water as they are swiftly pulled down the river by the twisting current.

Clay looks around, checking to see that all his team members are accounted for. "Is everyone okay?" he shouts over the fading roar of the falls behind them.

"Just peachy!" Pooch hollers back, doing his best to shout and sound sarcastic at the same time.

"What the fuck was that?" Aisha yells in place of an answer.

"Where's my fucking hat?" Cougar questions, barely audible.

Jensen laughs. "Nice word play, Cougs!" he shouts, and gets a glare in response. "Awe, don't tell me that little rhyme wasn't on pur-" Cougar glares at him even harder. "Yeah, yeah, shutting up." Without missing a beat, he immediately turns towards Clay, eyebrows raised. "Ya know, I like a refreshingly cold dip as much as the next guy, but my boys have migrated a tad further north than I'm comfortable with, and I'd _really_ prefer they didn't stay there."

Clay grins, nods, and points upstream. They begin to span the broad width of the river, swimming with the current at an angle towards the shore. On their way, they grab whatever items they think may be useful from the wreckage of their raft, Cougar managing to reclaim his hat in the process. Finally, Clay is able to get his feet underneath him, nearly stumbling as the water rushing around his legs threatens to sweep him back out. Very slowly, he trudges for the shore, glancing back at the progress of the team. Cougar is not too far behind, keeping his head down as he focuses on his footing and the items he has tucked beneath his arms. Pooch finds the area where he can touch bottom, slips a little, then regains his balance with a curse. Aisha is nearly there, keeping a steady rhythm with her arms as she glides through the water; and Jensen is lagging behind a bit, holding onto some sort of box with one hand as he pulls himself along with the other, muttering God-knows-what to himself.

When the water gets to his thigh-high level, Pooch turns and laughs at Jensen's struggling form. "Who was it that was comparing himself to a dolphin earlier?" he shouts.

"That was" *pant* "a warm, salt-water dolphin meant to thrive in the" *pant* "Caribbean oceans. Does this look like a Caribbean ocean to you?" Jensen answers, twisting his body around so he can swim backwards, hugging the box to his chest with his other arm. "Plus," he continues, "right now I'm like a one-finned, cripple dolphin."

"Well, cripple dolphin," Pooch grins, "I hope whatever's in that box is worth drowning over."

Jensen finally makes it to the shallower water, breathing heavily. "Holy sweet _Jesus_ , it's cold!" he spits out, raising a shaking hand above the water. "I think I have hypothermia. Do you think we have hypothermia? Does hypothermia cause sterility? I think I read that som- Oh my God!"

Everyone turns to see what the cause of Jensen interrupting himself was, following his gaze to rest on Aisha as she fully straightens herself out, water pouring off her thin t-shirt. She looks at them, looks down at herself, then rolls her eyes as she turns her back to the men who are near the shore. She locks onto Jensen's eyes, which are obviously _not_ looking back at hers.

"Jensen, I swear on everything holy that if you do not look away from my breasts right now, I will personally dig out your eyes with a river rock."

Snapping out of it, Jensen shakes his head and goes back to the task of pulling in his box as she rings out her shirt, trying her best to make it cling just a little less to her cold body. As Jensen gets closer to her, he stays lower in the water so he can keep the box floating on the surface instead of having to lift its full weight. She can finally make out which load he had managed to salvage.

"Awe, you grabbed our weapons. How sweet," she smiles.

"Yeah, well," he pauses, taking in a deep breath as he shudders, "I figured since the ones we were carrying probably aren't any good anymore, it might be smart to have the spare artillery around since there's, you know, guys with guns probably still wanting to see our brains splattered all over the rocks. I don't really think that'd be a good look for me." He stumbles forward and falls down onto his knees, quickly flipping over to a sitting position and spitting out the little bit of water he had sucked in.

"Oh please, that box floats," Aisha points out, reaching for it, "It can't be _that_ heavy." She grabs a handle and pulls it along the surface of the water, winking at him as she makes a point to show how easy it is for her.

"You weren't the one swimming with it," Jensen mutters as he gets back to his feet. He follows after her, not too exhausted to raise an eyebrow and smirk at the now-bent-over, full form of Aisha's backside. Without looking back, she raises a hand and flips him off, just causing his smirk to grow even wider.

Clay, having ditched his outer layer of freezing clothing, wades back out into the river to take one side of the box from Aisha. He glances up to see that Jensen has stopped walking a little ways back, a quizzical look on his face.

"Jensen?" he asks, "there a problem?"

Jensen cocks his head before meeting the Colonel's gaze. "Is it just my crazy brain doing one of those mind-over-matter things, or did everything just get exceptionally warmer out here?"

Clay opens his mouth to answer, but before he can speak, Jensen suddenly drops straight down into the water. The current makes quick work of picking up his limp form, pulling him away from the team and back out into the freezing river... 


	2. Fear of the Unknown (Chapter 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Losers narrowly escape from their last mission only to find that something is horribly wrong with their hacker...

"Shit!" Clay yells, dropping his side of the box and diving into the water. Aisha curses, too, taking the time to shove the weapons far enough into the shallow water that they won't be swept back out into the current. By the time she turns to help with the rescue, Pooch and Cougar are well ahead of her, trying their best to catch up to the Colonel and the unresponsive Jensen.

She curses again, turning her attention, instead, towards the shore. She drags the box the rest of the way up and leaves it on the rocks, moving quickly back into the woods. As she walks, she stoops down to pick up varying sizes of sticks and driftwood. "You'd better be alive, you little perv," she says under her breath.

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

Clay pulls furiously at the water around him, rapidly cutting the distance between himself and Jensen. As he gets closer, he pauses for just a second to get a lock on the tech's location. "Ah, hell," he hisses as he realizes Jensen is facedown in the water. He swims faster and within seconds he is able to reach an arm out, wrapping it around the kid's torso.

"Jensen!" he tries as he flips the unconscious man onto his back. He pulls Jake's face in close, listening for just a second. "Goddammit," he whispers, and begins swimming back to the shore. It doesn't take long for him to meet up with Cougar and Pooch, and with all three working together, they make quick time in getting Jensen back to solid ground. Without hesitation, they lay him out and with unspoken teamwork begin to administer CPR. Clay handles the chest compressions, Pooch does the breathing, and Cougar counts out the time.

"Jensen, you sonofabitch, you had better breathe," Pooch demands as he leans in for the third round of rescue breathing. After the second puff of air enters his body, Jensen sputters and coughs violently, spraying water into Pooch's face.

"Get him up," Clay orders, and Cougar helps Jake into a sitting position.

"Let it out, friend," Cougar soothes as Jensen regains control of his lung function.

Looking up into each of their concerned, yet relieved faces, Jensen turns to Pooch. "Dude?" he asks, his voice sounding shaky and tired. Pooch leans a little closer, listening as Jensen continues. "Did you _kiss_ me?" he finishes, a playful grin on his face.

Pooch sits back, his jaw tightening. "Oh, fuck no!" he yells out, standing up and crossing his arms over his chest. "That's the thanks I get for providing you with precious oxygen? Fuck this shit! Next time I'll just let some of your brain cells die before I help you."

Cougar and Clay laugh, the tension releasing as they help pull Jensen to his feet who is now grinning from ear to ear. Pooch pulls back on the rubber band that is holding the hacker's glasses in place and snaps it to the back of his head, making him flinch.

"Hey, now that was just uncalled for," Jensen frowns.

"Can't help it," Pooch grins, "That thing looks ridiculous and it just screams _snap me!_ "

"This 'thing' is the only reason I can still see that pretty face of yours, Mr. Prince Charming...How 'bout another kiss?" He leans in towards Pooch, making kissy faces, and Pooch pushes his face away, gently.

"You are such a punk," Pooch mutters, then lets his own laughter spill out. Slowly, with Clay and Cougar supporting Jensen between them, they make their way back down the river's shoreline to where Aisha is waiting with their gear.

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

Aisha, sitting on the weapons box in front of the fire she has created, finishes loading the clip of her handgun and jams it back into place, taking a second to aim it at nothing in particular. Her head jerks up over the gun as she spots the boys – all four of them – moving awkwardly in her direction. She stands as they approach, watching as all of them shiver with the cold and Jensen barely able to stand, but all of them smiling.

"You guys look like a bunch of idiots," she says by way of greeting them, her own smile shining through.

"A fire," Jensen says, his voice taking on a dreamy, thankful tone in spite of the trembling. He turns to Aisha. "You're an angel. A beautiful, scary, gun-toting angel."

She snorts out a laugh, helping the boys get Jensen situated comfortably in front of the fire before she tugs on Clay's arm. He takes the hint and follows her away from the group.

"So, what happened?" she asks once they're out of earshot.

Clay shakes his head, shrugging his shoulders. "I have no idea. No gunshot wounds, no internal injuries as far as we can tell; he isn't hypothermic, despite all his paranoid protesting... And the fact that he's still going on about it like he normally does tells me that mentally he checks out. I don't know, the kid seems fine. Maybe he just passed out from exhaustion."

"Don't bullshit me, Clay. The way he went down back there? That wasn't exhaustion. Exhaustion makes you crumble, starting from the knees up. He didn't crumble, Clay, he dropped like a fucking rock, like every system in his body just shut down at the exact same time. That doesn't happen to people who are 'fine.'"

Clay sighs. "I know, but there's nothing we can do about it right now. As long as he's acting normal, the best we can do is keep an eye on him and focus on getting the hell out of here in one piece."

Done with the conversation, he turns to head back to the fire when Aisha speaks up softly behind him.

" _Can_ we get out of here in one piece?" she asks. "Those assholes are coming after us, and probably fast. We'll be moving through unfamiliar territory with virtually no survival gear, and it'll be hard enough watching our own backs without having to worry about babysitting-"

Clay spins on her quickly, his eyes blazing dangerously into hers. She stares back, unmoving, her face locked into a stone-cold mask of indifference. A second later, his eyes soften as he smiles at her.

"Sweetheart," he starts, still smiling, "I know you mean well, but if you _ever_ suggest I leave one of my men behind again, I'll make sure the one that gets left behind is _you._ Are we clear?"

"You know I wouldn't suggest it if I didn't think it'd be in the best interest of-"

His smile fades and he moves in on her closer. "Are. We. Clear?"

She smiles back at him. "Crystal," she purrs, her voice laced with sharp ice.

Clay backs off, perking right back up. "Good," he grins, "glad we could have this little talk."

She lets out a breath as he heads back to the fire, waiting a few beats before she straightens up and strides along behind him...


	3. Fear of the Unknown (Chapter 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Losers narrowly escape from their last mission only to find that something is horribly wrong with their hacker...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw, I'm testing out the import thing as I go along, but I'm not actually doing much editing except for formatting. Please bear with me if there are any glitches between the LiveJournal imports and what you see here, and let me know if there's anything too glaring. I'm going with getting the story up asap and getting it updated over taking the time to go through each chapter with a fine-toothed comb.
> 
> And I'm going to post my link again for the paid fanfiction project that I'm part of, just because I can. It's kind of a big deal.
> 
> <http://www.weheart-tv.com/2014/03/interactive-tv-watching.html>

The team quickly maneuvers through the darkening woods with a small arsenal strapped to their bodies. Clay is leading with Aisha right behind him, Pooch and Jensen are in the middle, and Cougar is bringing up the rear. As they move, Pooch keeps stealing little glances over at Jensen, who eventually stops and nods knowingly as he turns towards him.

"I have a big ugly spider on my head, don't I?" Jake asks calmly, pauses, then immediately drops his shoulder bag and starts slapping his hands through his hair.

Pooch sighs, watching Jensen's little panic dance for a few seconds before speaking. "Stop that, you look like a retarded monkey. There's no spider."

"There's no spider?" Jensen asks, freezing in place with on hand still on his head.

"No spider," Pooch assures him, then adds, "baby."

The tech notices the others are now all staring at him. "It's okay, everyone, there is _no_ spider. Abort the spider-killing mission. I repeat, that is an abort. You can all go back to your regularly scheduled fleeing through the woods."

When they begin to move again, Jensen looks at Pooch. "Soooo, is there something you wanna tell me? I mean, I know I'm pretty to look at and all, but you weren't exactly giving me the 'oh, please, do me now' eyes…Not that I would want you to, because that'd just be _really_ weird, especially after you kissed me and all."

"I swear to God, man, if you mention that one more time…," Pooch warns.

"What? You're gonna hurt me? Oooh, I'm so scared!" Jake teases. "Especially since I know the reason you keep looking at me is _probably_ because you're worried about the whole almost-drowning thing; and I'm touched, really, but I assure you, I'm _fine_. I don't have hypothermia, the boys are back in their summer home, I have Sasha here to keep me company" he pats his bag, "and there are no holes in my body where there shouldn't be. Everything's yankee-doodle-dandy."

Pooch looks at him, flabbergasted. "There's a computer in that bag? That box was supposed to be for weapons _only_. Why the hell did you bring a computer?"

"You have your weapons, I have mine," the hacker smiles, "And, yes, mom, I remembered to pack the healthy snacks, too." He holds up his gun as proof, then also points to a knife strapped to his leg.

"Yeah, you're fine," Pooch mumbles, shaking his head before picking up his pace a little.

"What?" Jensen calls after him, "What'd I do?"

A soft voice suddenly speaks up from behind, startling him. "You're being too quite," Cougar says as he steps up to keep pace with him.

" _I'm_ being too quiet?" Jensen scoffs. "I'm being too quiet, says the guy that uses so few words that I can actually keep a running count of his vocabulary."

Cougar simply smiles and nods. Jensen falls silent for another few seconds, nodding his own head at first in understanding, then shaking it in complete confusion.

"What does that even _mean_ , 'you're being too quiet?' Isn't that the whole idea of escape here? We keep quiet so the bad guys can't hear us? How am I possibly being too quiet?"

The sniper shrugs.  "You're only quiet when you sleep."

Jensen gasps, feigning hurt feelings. "Oh, that is _so_ not true! I don't talk during movies, because _that_ is just disrespectful, and I don't talk at funerals, or weddings, or….or…" he snaps his fingers, "or when the bingo lady's calling out the numbers. There are _plenty_ of times when I'm quiet. Quiet as a mouse _after_ it's been swallowed by a snake. Ha!"

"Sometimes," Cougar adds, "the mouse still screams from the inside."

Jensen stops walking. "Oh, that's just - dude, now I'm gonna have nightmares. Thanks. Thank you, Cougar, for that _horrible_ mental image. You know what? You can go back to being creepy, quiet Cougar, now. You're just plain scary when you talk. Jesus!"

He continues to ramble on as they walk. At the front of the group, Clay leans back a little to talk to Aisha.

"That normal enough for you?" he asks her.

"I think I liked it better when he _wasn't_ acting normal," she responds, and Clay laughs.

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

Aisha is sleeping soundly when she is suddenly snapped to full consciousness by a hand covering her mouth and the cold steel of a knife pressing against her neck. She starts to struggle, but stops when the blade bites into her flesh, creating a small, but still painful, cut.

A hushed voice cuts through the darkness. "You think you can just stroll into our territory and do whatever you want?" it says, sounding dangerously angry. "You strut around acting like you're tough shit, playing at being boss, being the alpha _bitch_ of the pack; but I've got news for you, you stupid whore. You're nothing but a jack russell terrier biting at the ankles of a family of pit bulls. Eventually, one of them is going to bite back."

The blade starts to slowly draw down her neck, opening the previous cut into a deeper, wider one. She lets out a small, pained moan against her attacker's hand; and then suddenly the weight on her body is gone, disappearing backwards into the darkness. With lightening fast speed, she rolls onto her feet, her gun pointing towards the sounds of an intense struggle before her.

A hand reaches out, forcing her to lower her weapon. "Don't," Cougar says, handing her a flashlight before he rushes into the chaos. She lifts it, shining it before her in time to see Cougar, Pooch, and Clay forcing Jensen to his knees, pinning his arms behind him. He lets out an agitated scream as he goes down.

Still pulling against their hold on him, Jensen looks up, his eyes flashing in the light. His glasses having been lost in the struggle so there's nothing hiding both the venomous and pained look he shoots at her.

"I thought we were friends!" he shouts.

"We are," she says coolly, "or at least we were 'til you put a knife to my neck."

"Traitorous _bitch!_ " he screams. "Don't _fucking_ lie to me! I heard you back there on the beach! I heard every last fucking word!"

Clay glances up at her and they share a knowing look. Jake twists against the grip on his arms one last time before frustration and fatigue win over. He relaxes forward and suddenly starts to cry, his body heaving as his tears quickly become wracking sobs. Clay gives the nod for everyone to let go, and Jensen brings his hands up to his face, pressing his forehead to the ground. Pooch looks down at him, then back up at Clay.

"What the _fuck_ is going on?" he asks.

"I wish I knew," Clay answers, resting a hand on Jensen's shoulder as he cries.


	4. Fear of the Unknown (Chapter 4)

Jensen blinks his eyes open slowly, yawns, then winces as he tries to move. He looks down at himself to discover he's been bound to a tree.

"Awe, man," ha mumbles, leaning his head back against the trunk.

Cougar kneels down in front of him. "You okay?" he asks.

Jensen continues to stare at the leaves above him. "Well. I'm tied to a tree - which, I might add, is a  _very_ uncomfortable way to sleep – but, that aside, I'd say the  _reason_  I'm tied to a tree is either because there was some insane earthquake that I somehow slept through and I was put here for my own safety, or my dream of totally hulking out and then crying like a kid who just lost his puppy was actually real."

"You remember?" Cougar asks.

"Shit," Jensen whispers, blowing the word out in a sigh. "She's gonna kill me, isn't she?"

"No, I'm not going to kill you," Aisha says, walking up beside Cougar, "but don't think I didn't consider it."

She leans down, untying his bindings. He pulls his arms forward, rubbing at his shoulders and keeping one eye on her. She reaches a hand down offering to help him up, but he just looks at it, then up at the bandage on her neck.

"Aisha, I'm-" he starts.

"Save it, Jensen, I don't want your apology." She looks at Cougar, and that's all it takes for him to get the hint. He nods and walks off as she takes over the kneeling position in front of Jensen. He opens his mouth to speak.

"Shut up and listen," Aisha interrupts again. "I don't know how the hell you overheard us talking yesterday, and I sure as hell don't know what happened to you last night, but to me that only served to prove my point. Yesterday I was worried that you'd pass out again, and then we'd get killed while dragging your unconscious ass through the woods. Now I have to worry about  _you_  being the one doing the killing." He turns away from her, looking ashamed. When she speaks again, her tone is softer. "I like you, Jensen, you know I do, but something is  _seriously_  wrong with you. I'm just trying to look out for the rest of the team."

"I know," he says, then glances back over to her. "but I  _really_  don't want to be left here in the woods by myself, and Clay won't let that happen, anyway. So, since that option's out, I say we all just do our best not to poke the proverbial giant green muscley dude that's apparently living inside my brain right now until we figure out what's going on, okay"

She smiles. "I guess I can do that."

Clay calls over from a few feet away. "Jensen, Aisha, we gotta move. Finish your make-up session on the way."

She stands and holds her hand out to him once again. This time he lets her help him up, groaning as he stretches out his back. Pooch walks over to him, handing him his glasses.

"You dropped these last night," he says.

"See. That's  _exactly_  why I should have kept the rubber band. I don't know why I listen to you sometimes."

Pooch pats him on the shoulder. "Good to have you back to normal, man."

He walks off, Jensen following close behind rubbing at his neck.

"You guys seriously couldn't find something better to do with me than tie me to a freakin' tree? Really? I'm gonna need a serious massage when we get out of here."

"You're gonna need a brain scan when we get outta here," Pooch counters.

"...Yeah," Jensen quietly agrees, then falls silent as he gathers up his gear for their next trek, not failing to notice that his gun and knife are nowhere in sight.

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

Max taps his fingers on the table in front of him.

"What do you mean, 'they're all gone?'" he asks the two gentlemen in suits sitting across from him.

"We mean exactly that, sir," one of the men explains. "Everything was stored in that computer, and despite our best efforts, they still managed to get through all our security measures."

"So...what?" Max asks, "It's just over? Done? Kaput? You have nothing to show for all my time and money?" He pulls out his gun and points it at them. "Because if that's the case, I really don't need to keep you gentlemen around any longer, now do I?"

"Wait, wait!" the second man says, waving his hands. "Let's not get hasty. The computer is completely wiped, yes, and it would be very difficult to start over from scratch. However, there is a way where we may not have to."

Max sticks his gun under the table and shoots the man in the leg. Ignoring the cries, he casually says, "I don't like the words 'may not.' Sounds like you aren't certain…but, you do have my attention. I'm listening."

Nervously, the first man continues to explain the situation as his associate whimpers beside him. "He meant, uh, we're  _positive_  we can recover our production methods  _if_  you can deliver us the man who stole them from us. We believe he may have been infected" - Max twitches his finger on the trigger – "I mean, we  _know_  the man has been infected, and if we can get him back, we can extract a sample from him in order to recreate the prototype."

Setting the gun in his lap, Max presses a hand to his head. "Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"  He sighs and taps his finger against his lips in thought.  "This had to be Clay and his unit.  Your so-called soldiers are really no match for these guys; they're probably half way to Abu Dhabi by now."

"But sir, Abu Dhabi's on the other side-"

"It was a figure of speech, moron. God, why are geniuses so fucking  _dumb_  sometimes? Anyway, no matter, I'll get some men who actually know what they're doing to track down these Losers." He stands, pushing himself away from the table. "You may want to get a doctor to look at that," he points out to the injured man as he makes his way to the door.

"Uh, sir?" the uninjured man tentatively calls out. "We'll need this man to be alive when you bring him in."

"You can't make this simple, can you?" Max whines, shaking his head. "Fine. He'll be brought in alive."

"If it makes you feel better, sir, the extraction of the sample  _will_  kill him."

Max perks up, raising his eyebrows. "Yeah? Will it be painful?"

"Very," the man smiles, "Very painful, and very slow."

Max's grin spreads wide. "That  _does_  make me feel better. I'm glad you were the one I didn't shoot."

With that, he turns and walks out the door.


	5. Fear of the Unknown (Chapter 5)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I should probably mention that there's a lot of swearing in this fic. Better late than never, right?
> 
> I should probably also mention that this is a mash-up between the movie universe and the comic one. I liked aspects of the characters from both sources, so I gave the characters the traits I liked from both and combined them into one (ie, Aisha is a bit harder around the edges than she is in the film because I liked her being all scary as hell from the comics, but having that soft side as depicted in the film, as well).
> 
> Carry on!

"I said no, Jensen," Clay says, a slight edge to his voice.

"But it won't even take that much time," Jensen argues, "I go up, set up a link to the satellite, and - presto! - Sasha can pinpoint our  _exact_  location."

Pooch steps forward. "At risk of sounding crazy for agreeing with the crazy guy, it  _would_  be nice to be able to find the fastest, safest way out of here."

Jensen gestures toward Pooch with both hands. "There, see? That's two votes against the current let's-just-head-west-and-hope-we-don't-die plan. Anyone else?"

Clay speaks before anyone else has a chance to. "You think I like walking through hostile, unfamiliar territory without a map?"

Jensen sucks air in through clenched teeth, half shrugging, "Weeeellll..." he implies.

"I don't," Clay snaps. "The problem I have with your plan is that the only person who can carry it out just spent the last twenty minutes laughing uncontrollably over a joke on the inside of his gum wrapper."

"Hey, that was a funny joke," Jensen says, trying to defend himself. He looks around at the others for support. "Right? The computers eat chips! When they get hungry, they…" Aisha rolls her eyes, Pooch shakes his head, and Cougar pulls his hat down a little further. "No? Not fu – okay, so it wasn't all that funny. I had another 'fit' or whatever we want to call them; but I'm completely fine now. I'll be up and down in ten minutes, tops."

Clay grabs Jensen's arm, pulling him forward as he points up at the nearest tree. "See that branch, there?" he asks, making sure Jensen nods before continuing.  "If you fall from the top of that tree, odds are you're going to hit that branch. Do you know what'll happen when you do?"

Jensen squints his eyes at it. "I would, uh, yeah, I'd probably become Jensen-kabob."

"Exactly," Clay nods, "and no one here wants to see that."

"Okay, fine. I get it," Jensen relents.

"Good," Clay responds, only able to take a few steps forward before Jensen speaks again.

"But  _that_  tree…" he says, pointing up at a different one. "Yeah, there are definitely no kabob-skewer branches up there.  _That_  is the money tree."

"Jensen," Clay starts, turning around just in time to see the tech leap up towards the lowest branch. "Dammit, Jensen, that was an order!" he yells.

"That was an order," Jensen mocks quietly, making a quick ascent up the branches.

Cougar watches for a second, then looks at Clay. "Should I...?" he asks, pointing to himself then up at the tree.

"No," Clay sighs.  "We can't risk stirring him up. Just be ready to catch him if he falls."

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

Concentrating on the thinner branches, Jensen continues to pull himself up while singing to himself.

"I said your love, keeps liftin' me higher," he sings, "high- _igh_ -er-er, higher and higher.  _Higher!"_ A branch he reaches up to snaps as he pulls on it, and he quickly swings his weight back to the arm still gripping a solid hold.

"Woops, guess you aren't liftin' me any higher than this, Jackie" he mutters, situating himself so he can freely use his hands. He pulls his computer from the bag along with a small box that folds out into a mini satellite dish. Screwing a collapsible, thin metal rod onto the bottom of the satellite, he gently extends it out, feeding the dish up through the top of the tree. Satisfied that he has it wedged tightly in place, he cracks his knuckles and turns his attention to the laptop.

"All right, Sasha, I know this isn't your usual environment, but sometimes we have to work in shitty conditions to avoid being gunned down by The Man...or, The Man's evil scientists...or, I guess it would technically be the goons of The Man's evil scientists." He starts typing. "Now  _that_  would just be sad, being killed by the minions of the minions.  That'd be like third-gen inbred hamsters. With guns." The computer chimes a few times and Jensen nods at it. "Scary thought, I know, but that's the way it is in this crazy world. I'd like to tell you that you'll learn all about it when you get older, but I can't lie to ya, Sasha – I go through laptops like Batman goes through Robins. This is a dangerous line of business you've gotten yourself into."

He types in a few more keys, sits back a bit, frowns, then flicks at the metal rod a couple times. The computer dings and he goes back to work, smiling satisfactorily; then suddenly he jerks his head over his shoulder. He freezes in place, listening for a second, then turns further around as he tries to scan the forest behind and below him.

"Oh, fuck," he mutters. He takes a second to secure the computer within the tighter branches before swinging down the tree as fast, but as quietly, as he can.

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

Pooch, leaning against the trunk of the tree, feels a twig land on his head and he looks up. "Oh shit, he's comin' down fast," he says, stepping back.

Clay and Cougar rush forward, getting ready to catch him. Jensen jumps from a high branch, going over them and rolling when he hits the ground.

"Jensen, dammit, this is why I told you-" Clay begins.

"Shut up," Jensen says, and Clay flinches back just a tad in surprise. "Sorry, I didn't mean 'shut up' in the same sense as – fuck, nevermind that. There's guys coming up on us from the north and southeast, and they're circling around. They don't have our exact coordinates yet, but we gotta move or they're gonna have us surrounded."

"How far out are they?" Aisha asks.

"I don't, I don't know. My hearing's all...," Jensen sticks a finger in his ear and wiggles it a little. "Probably farther than it sounds like, which is exactly why we have to  _go_  while we still have time."

The others look at each other, unsure.

"Guys,  _please_  trust me on this," Jensen pleads. "This isn't a Crazy Jensen moment, this is real. Like the other day when I overheard you talking from like fifty feet away? Remember that?"

Clay thinks for just another second, then steps forward, pulling a gun out of his vest. He holds it out to Jensen. "You aim this at any of us, I will shoot you in the leg, you understand?" he asks, dead serious.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Jensen mutters sarcastically, tucking the gun away.

"Can you still hear them?" Clay asks, undaunted by Jensen's tone.

He listens for a few seconds before answering. "Yeah, they're somewhere over there" – he points as he talks – "and over there, getting ready to split up and move around like this…" he continues to gesture with his arms.

"You can hear all that?" Aisha asks, looking around.

"Like a damn bat," Jensen nods.

"Okay, Losers, so what do we want to do?" Clay asks.  "With bat boy here, we can approximate they're location; so do we want to run, or do we want to go get 'em?"

Cougar picks up his rifle, pushing on the slide to put a round in the chamber.

"Good answer," Clay says, smiling. "Let's take those fuckers down."

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

"Delta, this is Beta, do you have confirmation?" a camouflaged soldier asks into his comm.

He waits a second before the voice on the other end replies. "Affirmative, Beta, it's a clean trail. Targets are maintaining a course of due west."

"How far out?" he asks.

"Estimated five hundred meters, sir."

"Affirmative, Delta, close in from your position. Beta Team 2 and Delta Team 2, close from the north and south, we'll hit 'em from the front."

He waits to hear from each unit before signaling his own team of four men to move. They only go a few paces before the one on the far left suddenly falls to the ground.

"What the?" the man beside him gets out, and then he, too, goes down. The man on the right gets pulled into the bushes, unable to make any sound at all.

"Delta, this is-" the team leader starts to say, but goes quiet as a gun is pressed to his neck. He glances over to see that his last remaining man is also being held at gunpoint.

"I don't think so," Aisha hisses into his ear.

Jensen and Clay walk out of the bushes, Jensen moving up to pull the comm. off the team leader's ear.

"I'll just be taking this," he smiles. Holding it up to his mouth, he does his best to mimic their captive's voice. "Delta, this is Beta. We have located one of the targets. Repeat, we have located one of the targets. Target appears to be injured." He pulls the comm. away. "Pooch, sound like you're injured."

Pooch, holding the other soldier at gunpoint, looks at Jensen, annoyed. "I am holding a hostage here, man, what's wrong with you?"

"Just yell a little, I'll hold the comm. out," Jensen says, holding it up. To his surprise, Aisha is the one who cries out, and very convincingly. He pulls it back, mouthing a  _wow_  at her and giving her a thumbs up as he speaks. "Target may be hostile, be advised that we are moving in."

Clay claps his hands together. "All right, fellas, we can have a nice, calm conversation and you can tell us what we want to know, or we can put on a nice little radio show for your friends out there. What do you say?"

"Go to hell," the team leader sneers.

Clay smiles. "I admire your loyalty. Too bad it's for a guy I wouldn't even bother spitting on if I saw his dead corpse in the street, nice as that would be. Aisha," he says, not breaking eye contact with the soldier, "make it sound hostile."

"Abso-fucking-lutely," she smiles.

Jensen holds the comm. out in front of him and takes a step back, cringing as the man starts to scream.


	6. Fear of the Unknown (Chapter 6)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, I just realized what time it was. I have to be at work early in the morning!
> 
> This'll be the last chapter addition for the night, but I'll try to get the rest of them up tomorrow. Then we'll see about getting you guys that new one I've been promising for like a millenia, lol. I told you, I never abandon my babies! Put them on hold for...years (sorry!), but never abandoned!

The moaning, bloody form of the Beta team leader is centered within the scope of a gun's sights. Slowly, the view pans through the foliage and falls on a team of five soldiers stealthily making their ways towards him. As they approach, the leader of the new unit ducks down, signaling the others to fan out. Keeping low, they move through the trees, scanning the surrounding area as they go.

Cougar smiles from behind the scope, virtually invisible from his position in the trees. Exhaling just a whisper of a breath, he takes a shot. His next one comes within a second of the first. He doesn't get a chance to take a third.

The leaves directly in front of his face suddenly explode into nothing. He narrowly avoids a direct hit from a second shot as he swings his body around to the other side of the tree.

"Mierda," he mutters as bark explodes around him.

"Talk to me, Cougar," Clay says over the comm.

"Cover's blown," Cougar responds, twisting his body to avoid another shot.

"We're on our way."

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

Clay rushes through the trees, speaking on his comm. as he runs. "Plans've changed, team, he's a sitting duck up there. Get to him fast, take out any threats along the way. And watch your backs. It won't do him any good if we all die before we get there."

Jensen's voice comes through on the other end. "Nice pep talk, there, Colonel.  Ever think about taking up motivational speaking?"

Clay ignores him as he slams his back against the nearest tree. Peering around it, he sees two soldiers stepping through the bushes several feet in front of him. Pulling out a second gun, he quickly steps out and takes both of them down, their faces frozen in a look of shock as they hit the ground.

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

Pooch stands up, inspecting his knot work. His hostage is now bound tightly to a tree, arms twisted awkwardly behind the trunk.

"And Jensen thought  _he_  was uncomfortable," he muses, putting a gag in the soldier's mouth. The man tries to shout through it.

"Awe, don't worry man, I'll be back for you," he says, smiling, then turns to go aid in the rescue.

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

Aisha crawls slowly from one bush to another, sitting up with her guns tucked against her body as three men pass by behind her. One of them stops, looking over in her direction.

"This is one game of hide-and-seek you do  _not_  want to win," she says under her breath.

The man raises his gun and begins moving towards her. As he approaches, she slides one of her guns into its holster and pulls out her knife. When he gets above her, she springs up, jamming it into his neck. As the other men aim their guns at her, she shoves the bleeding soldier into one and opens fire on the other. She takes him down and spins around in time to catch the first one recuperating from the sudden weight of the now-dead knife victim.

"I warned you," she says coolly before firing a round into his head.

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

"Hang on, Cougar, I'm almost there," Jensen huffs as he sprints through the trees.

He skids to a stop, diving down behind a fallen tree just short of the four men firing up at the sniper.

"Hey, Cougar," he whispers into the comm, "you want me to distract them, or just shoot them?"

"Shoot!" Cougar responds through the gunfire.

"Okay, okay, I was just asking, sheesh." Jensen raises his gun up over the tree, accidentally scratching his wrist on a jagged piece of bark.

"Ow," he says, annoyed, then a second later he repeats the "ow" more seriously, with a puzzled look on his face. "Ow,  _shit_!" he hisses, ducking back down as he inspects the bleeding, but not very deep cut on his wrist.

"Jensen!" Cougar's voice blasts in his ear.

Arms shaking, Jensen speaks through gritted teeth. "I'm having a bit of a problem, here, Cou – GOD _DAMM_ IT!"

The soldiers spin around instantly, pointing their guns at the tree Jensen is hiding behind. Cougar takes that second to go on the offensive, taking a quick shot at one of them and jumping down to a further branch before they return fire. Two of the soldiers continue the gunfight with him, the third rushing up on Jensen. He dives over the fallen tree and rolls up into a squatting position, pointing his gun at the hacker. Jensen, now flat on his back cursing as he holds his arm tightly, doesn't even seem to notice that the man is there.

"Package acquired," the soldier says. "I got him, so let's get the fuck out-"

A shot goes off and the man falls forward, revealing Clay standing with his gun still raised. He jumps over the body to Jensen's side.

"Oh god, it  _burns!"_ Jake moans.

"Where are you hit?" Clay asks, searching for a bullet wound.

Jensen shakes his head. "Not," he spits out. "Another fucking fit." He gasps in pain before waving Clay off. "Help Cougar."

Clay hesitates for a second, then pats Jensen on the shoulder. "Hang in there. We'll be back for you."

He hops over the tree and takes down one of the remaining men, thus giving Cougar the chance to take down the other. Before they even get to speak, they can hear more gunfire a short distance away. Cougar jumps down from the branches, blood trickling from several cuts caused by the constant showering of bark chips. He gives Clay a questioning look.

"I'll go," Clay says. "Stay with him."

Cougar nods, watching Clay dart off to help finish the fight.

And that's when Jensen screams.

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

Everything goes silent. Clay stops, turning back to look in the direction the scream came from, then looking back towards the way he was headed.

"Was that Jensen?" Pooch asks through the comm.

"Yeah... What's your situation?" Clay asks.

The gunfire starts up again.

This time it's Aisha that cuts in. "We can handle it, Clay."

Several more gunshots are fired. "Are you sure?" Clay asks, looking back and forth from the sounds of the shooting to the sounds of Jensen's cries.

Pooch's voice comes through again. "Dammit, Clay, if the woman said we can handle it, we can  _handle_  it. Go help someone that needs it."

"Those better not be famous last words," Clay orders, turning to head back the way he had come.

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

Jensen rolls onto his side, turning his face to breathe heavily into the leaves as he fights against the pain. Cougar gently pushes on his shoulder, rolling him onto his back again. "Bite," he demands, pressing a stick with a piece of cloth wrapped around it into Jensen's mouth. Squeezing his eyes shut, the tech clamps his jaw around the stick, allowing himself to scream into it. A moment later, Clay reappears at his side.

"What can I do?" the Colonel asks.

Cougar simply shakes his head with a lost look.

Clay frowns. "Is he injured?"

The sniper motions towards the way Jake is protectively holding one of his arms against his chest.  "He won't let me see."

"Then that's where the problem is," Clay says, reaching out to take the guarded arm. He pauses and raises his eyes up at Cougar. "Hold him down."

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

Pooch peeks around the tree he's hiding behind, then looks over at Aisha who is parallel to him, hiding behind her own tree.

"There  _is_  one more, right?" he asks. "'Cause I took out two, you got one-"

" _I_ took out two," she corrects him.

"Nuh-huh, I  _definitely_  shot that man before you did. Your view was obstructed."

"You shot him first, but my shot killed him. That counts as mine," she states.

"He would have died just fine without your help," Pooch argues, raising his voice a little. He leans a little too far out and is barely missed by a bullet whizzing past. He throws himself back behind the tree.

"Guess there  _is_  one more," Aisha smiles.

"Just kill the fucker. Then we can call it even."

"No, then I'll be way ahead."

Pooch gives her a  _what-the-fuck?_  look, shakes his head in frustration, then says, "Okay, fine,  _I'll_  kill him. Then I can be 'way ahead' of you."

They look at each other for just a second before both spin out from behind their trees, ducking and rolling through the foliage around them for cover as the last of the enemy fires at them. At the exact same time, they spring up on either side of him, shooting him simultaneously. They make eye contact for a moment before Pooch speaks.

"That was a draw."

"Yep, definitely a draw."

They share an awkward silence while putting away their guns.

"…So, that means I won, right?" Pooch inquires.

"Pooch-" Aisha starts, annoyed, when Jensen's yell cuts through the trees.

"FUCKING SON-OF-A- _BITCH!"_ he screams.

Aisha and Pooch take off running.

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

Jensen struggles against Cougar's weight on his shoulders, desperately trying to pull his arm back from Clay's grip.

"Easy, Jensen, I just need to look," Clay soothes, but it has no effect on the frantic hacker. He continues to try to break free, looking more panicked by the second. Clay flips over the arm, inspecting the cut on his wrist.

"Come on, buddy, you've had way worse than this," he says, really more to himself than to Jensen. He pulls a flask out of one of his pants pockets, flipping open the lid with his thumb as he keeps a firm grip on Jensen's arm with his other hand. As he brings the flask up over the shallow wound, Jensen's whole body suddenly goes very still. He glares at Clay.

"I swear to  _fucking_  God, you cocky prick," the tech says, his voice low and steady, "if one drop of that hits my skin, I will tear your  _fucking_  eyes out and force them down your throat until you choke to death."

"Sounds like a horrible way to die," Clay states, then pours the alcohol onto the scratch. To the Colonel's surprise, Jensen doesn't struggle at all. He just lays back, his face twisting in shock and pain. He sucks in a couple short, shallow breaths, then releases a scream so loud that it echoes clearly through the forest. At the end of it, his eyes stare blankly at the forest ceiling for a few seconds before they flutter closed.

Clay and Cougar breathe the tension out of their bodies, glancing up at Pooch and Aisha as they approach.

"Is he...?" Pooch asks tentatively.

Clay shakes his head. "He's alive, but he's getting worse. We've gotta find out what's causing this."

Pooch smiles. "You've got questions, and I just happen to have a guy tied to a tree that might have some answers."

"You think he's ready to talk?"

Aisha answers for Pooch. "Between the things he saw me do to his superior, the body count out here, and Jensen's screaming, I think  _anyone_  would talk."

"All right, then," Clay says, standing. He leans down and grabs Jensen, slinging him over his shoulder. "Let's go play us a game of twenty questions."


	7. Fear of the Unknown (Chapter 7)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's see how many more of these I can slam out before I have to go. I've got a Skype meeting with the creative team for _Match_ , that interactive, fan-based web series I've mentioned a few times now. Check out the link for more details!
> 
> <http://www.weheart-tv.com/2014/03/interactive-tv-watching.html>

With Pooch's and Cougar's help, Clay gently eases Jensen down off his shoulder, laying him flat on a bed of dry leaves. He stands and walks over to the man tied to the tree and glares down at him.

"You know what that is?" he asks, pointing back to Jensen. The bound soldier, still gagged, just looks at him. "That is a man down. One of  _my_ men. And the funny thing about it is, it wasn't even your guys that took him down." He reaches into his vest pocket and pulls out a handful of dog tags, some of them covered in crimson stains. "Do you know what these are?" He throws them at the soldier's chest, who cringes back when they hit him and then stares down at them as they fall into his lap. "That's  _all_  of your men down, and unless you want us to add your tags into that pile, I'd suggest you and I have a little talk."

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

Jensen wakes with a start, glancing around at his surroundings frantically. It's dark with the exception of a small fire burning in front of him, and he appears to be alone. He pulls off his glasses to rub at his eyes, noticing the white bandage taped around his wrist. Cringing in anticipation, he very gently touches it, then relaxes when nothing happens.

A hand suddenly reaches out and touches his shoulder, causing him to jump up to his feet.

"Easy," Cougar says.

Jensen puts a hand to his chest. "Jesus, Cougar, ninja much? You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry," Cougar shrugs, smiling. "Your wrist?"

Jensen sighs, sitting back down. "Normal. You know this isn't even big enough to leave a scar? It's pathetic…. But,  _man_ , I've never felt anything like that. It was like every single one of my nerve endings was on fire. And, Jesus  _Christ,_ who knew I had that kind of lung capacity? That was like banshee screaming back there. Just disturbing. Speaking of disturbing, how the  _hell_  do I do that thing with my voice where I go all The Punisher on you guys? Thomas Jane Punisher, not Lundgren or Stevenson. They were cool, but they just didn't have that _voice,_  ya know? The deep, scary one? I think I sound like that when I go all Crazy Jensen mode, don't you? It's gotta be pretty bad ass."

"Not from the other side of the threat," Cougar points out.

"Yeeahhhh, sorry about that. Where is everyone, anyway? You guys aren't all avoiding me now, are you?"

"No. They're getting your computer."

"Awe, they're rescuing Sasha? And here I thought I was the only one who cared."

Cougar shakes his head with a slight grin. "We need the files."

"The ones I stole from the lab?  Do they have to do with me?" Jensen asks, and Cougar nods. "Shiiit," he whispers, dropping his gaze to the fire. "I knew it. As soon as that guy called me 'the package,' I knew I was fucked." He looks back to Cougar. "Max's new weapon – it wasn't a bomb, was it?"

At Cougar's look, Jensen nods and stares back into the flames. "Okay. Bioweapon, then. So the question is, how the hell did I get exposed to it?"

Cougar arches an eyebrow at him. "You tell me," he says.

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

_Three days ago:_

The sun is coming up over the top of the lab building as the team lays perched in the trees several feet away. Clay brings down his binoculars, looking over at Jensen.

"You sure morning is the best time to hit this thing?" he asks.

Jensen rolls his eyes. "Clay. You've asked me that like a thousand times. And what do I tell you every time? I say 'Yes, Clay, I'm positive.' Positive. As in the exact opposite of negative. As in, yes, I'm sure the morning is the best time to hit this thing so we don't all end up in body bags. I checked. I double-checked. In fact, I probably checked about a million and thirty-seven times. Are you satisfied? Because I can bust out my red sharpie and draw you a picture right now if you want."

Clay sighs. "A simple 'yes' would've been fine."

"I was making a point. A 'trust Jensen' point."

"Point taken." Clay looks at each member of the team. "We ready?" They all nod. "Then let's roll."

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

After Jensen takes care of a few perimeter cameras, they make their way into the compound quickly and quietly. They split off in different directions, Jensen running towards what looks to be a small, white brick building except it has no windows or doors; it's only entrance appears to be a large metal "lid" on top, clamped down with several heavy-duty combo locks. Pulling a digital EMF reader out of his bag, Jensen runs along one side of the building, watching the numbers intently.

"You think you're so smart," he mumbles to no one in particular. "'Oh, look, we didn't build a door! The bad guys can't get to our generator, now!' Well guess what, bitches? I don't need a door."

He finds the spot he's looking for and marks it with a red "X", starts to back off, looks at it, then shakes his head. "That's too small," he says, moving forward again to draw the mark a little bigger. As he reaches the sharpie back towards the "X", the brick suddenly explodes in a neat little cloud of dust. He pulls his hand back quickly, glaring off in the direction the shot came from.

"Hey! The hacker kinda needs his hand, ya know?"

Cougar smiles from behind the scope of his gun. "Wasn't even close."

"Wasn't even-? You took the tip off my sharpie!" He holds it up so Cougar can see before Clay's voice cuts through on the comm.

"Is it down?" he asks.

"Yeah, it's down," Jensen mumbles, inspecting the hole in the wall. "I'm on my way."

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

The last number on the electric lock clicks into place.

"Okay," Jensen says, quickly putting his gear back into his bag, "It'll take me about three minutes to shut off the main power source, counting the time it takes me to get there. They're gonna be on us as soon as they realize the generator isn't kicking in."

"How long will that be?" Pooch asks.

Jensen shrugs. "About point five seconds."

"All right, then," Pooch says, gripping the wheel on one of the the heavy metal doors. Clay gives him the nod to open it, and they step in, guns at the ready.

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

Crammed in a small, dark space, pen light sticking out of his mouth, Jensen's fingers race across the numbers on the console. He waits for a beep, then rolls himself over to do the same on a different platform. It beeps twice, after which he pulls out a small touchscreen computer, connecting wires from it to both consoles. On the computer's screen there are several numbers and he presses them all, then listens for the sound of the building's power shutting down. Satisfied, he lightly kicks at the panel at his feet.

From the outside hall, now dark with the exception of her flashlight, Aisha slides the small, square metal panel aside. Jensen slides out of the space, and she moves in to trade places with him.

"Gotta love a building that functions all on computer software," he smiles.

"Just tell me what to do," Aisha says impatiently.

"Press the magic number on my signal," he says, and she nods before slipping into the hole. He shuts the panel behind her and races off down the darkened hall.

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

Pressing himself against the wall, Jensen smiles as he watches two guards run right past him down an adjoining corridor. "Ha ha! They're all headed to the main control room, just like I said," he gloats, shifting the night vision goggles on his face.

Clay's voice cuts in. "Great. And when they find out no one's there, they're gonna be sending people out looking for Aisha. Move your ass, Jensen."

"I'm not exactly taking a leisurely stroll, here, Colonel," he says, rounding the corner. "And relax, there's like fifty-two of those crawl spaces spread out around the building. With you guys thinning out the herd and all, we'll be in and out before anyone finds her. Scout's honor."

Pooch speaks up. "Dude, you told me you went to computer camp. You weren't a boy scout."

Jensen starts to round another corner, then quickly throws himself back. "A Programmer Porcupine's word is just as good as any boy scout's," he counters; then, "I need some back up down here. There  _may_  be a few more guys guarding the door than I thought there would be."

"How many's 'a few?'" Clay asks.

"Oh, about ten," Jensen says casually.

"Boss," Cougar cuts in from his position outside, still in the trees. "More men are coming."

"Well that wasn't in the plan," Jensen says. "Guess I'm on my own, then."

"Don't do anything stupid," Clay warns.

"Stupid? That word isn't even in my vocabulary," Jensen grins. He pulls off his goggles and trades them for sunglasses, then takes some canisters out of his bag. Crouching down, he flips open a lighter, the firelight instantly giving away his position. As the guards make their way down the hall Jensen throws the canisters, fuses lit, towards them.

"Happy Fourth of July!" he shouts as the canisters explode, sending a bright white flash all the way down the hall. The soldiers stop, yelling out as they cover their eyes. "Aisha, hit the three, now!" Jensen orders as he quickly slips through the blinded men. He reaches the lock on the door just as its power turns back on, and quickly punches in the code. When the door slides open just enough for Jensen to squeeze through it, he punches in the code on the lock on the other side.

"Come on, come on, come on," he urges as he sees the recuperating soldiers rushing towards him. At the last second before they reach him, the door locks into place. "Hit it again, Aisha!" he says frantically, then relaxes as the lights on the lock shut off again. "That was close...Okay, give me numbers sixteen and lucky number thirteen."

A single light turns on in the center of the ceiling, shining down on the only thing in the room – a desktop computer with a cabinet-sized hard drive tower sitting beside it.

Jensen takes off his sunglasses, whistling as he looks at it. "Hello, beautiful," he says, "Hope you're not shy, because we are about to get  _very_  intimate..."


	8. Fear of the Unknown (Chapter 8)

Jensen pulls out his laptop, flipping it open and placing it on the desktop. He connects a few wires from it to the tower, puts a headset into the ear that doesn't have the comm., then frowns when he can't find the port on the tower to plug his headset into.

"Come on baby, Daddy just wants to communicate with you," he mutters, flipping down a small plastic lid on the side of the machine revealing a single hole underneath. "Ah, there you are," he smiles.  "You are a unique little critter, aren't you?"

Everything set, he sucks in a breath and holds it as he flips the power switch on the monitor first, then the tower. The second the tower begins to hum, a spark flashes through Jensen's ear bud. He jumps back, throwing the headset off.

"Ahh, ffffuck me!" he spits out, touching his ear. He pulls back his hand to see a little bit of blood on his fingertips. "Shit."

"What happened, slick?" Aisha asks. "Your new girlfriend doesn't want to play nice?"

He sits back down, wincing as he touches his ear again. "I stuck my thing in the wrong hole," he says, then looks up in alarm. "Wait, that's not what-!  That didn't come out the way-!"  He shakes his head.  "It's far too late to backpedal from that one, isn't it?"

"Oh, you know it," she says, humor in her voice, and he shakes his head.

"You got me good, Sparky," he utters to the computer as he sets back to work. "Now alllll the other kids in school are gonna be making jokes behind my back. And not the "kick me" sign sort of jokes. Oh-ho no, my friend, they'll be making the kinds of jokes that will leave me girlfriendless for the next twenty years. That's all thanks to you. I hope you're proud of yourself."

The computer beeps.

"Sure, sure, gloat about it now," he continues, "but in about…..two minutes, you won't have much to say for yourself."

He types a few more things into desktop keyboard, then shifts over to his laptop.

"Okay, Sasha, let's show Sparky, here, what a civilized girl can do."

Jensen watches as numbers, letters, and symbols go flying across both screens. His eyes flick back and forth between the two computers, swiveling in his chair as he trades out which keyboard he needs to type on. He takes a quick glance at his watch and frowns.

"You guys are all still alive out there, right?" he asks.

Clay is the one to answer. "We won't be if you take too much longer."

"I'm going as fast as I can. Sparky didn't exactly take to the voice command option, so I have to do things the old-fashioned way. I don't have time to decrypt the files so I'm transferring them to Sasha now, and we can look at 'em later. I'll have everything I need in roughly thirty seconds."

A loud  _clang_ resounds from the other side of the door. Jensen flinches, looking back at it for a second before turning back to the computers. The symbols abruptly stop moving and the desktop screen goes blank. "Sorry, Sparky," he says, patting it. "You fall in with the wrong crowd, and you're gonna get burned." He places a small magnetic device on the side of the tower and takes a few steps back. Pressing the button on the remote trigger he's holding, he watches as bolts of electricity spring from the magnet and dance around the computer. After a few seconds they fizzle out, leaving the tower smoking.

Another  _clang_ echoes through the room. "Uh, Colonel?" Jensen asks.

"We're coming, Jensen."

"Yeah, about that. Just thought you should know that the guys on the other side of this door here, are  _pretty_ pissed off. And probably still half blind."

There's a pause before Clay speaks again. "A bunch of angry soldiers aiming wild, huh? Sounds like fun."

Jensen watches as the banging continues on the outside of the door. As the metal begins to bend, he holds his gun out in front of him, ready to fire. With one final hit, the edge bends in just enough to leave a gap a few inches thick between the door and the frame. Jensen fires directly into it, hitting one man square in the forehead. He spins off to the side, throwing himself against the wall as shots are fired into the room. He sees the tip of a large wench being jammed into the gap, prying it open even further. Sweating, all he can do is aim his gun and wait.

"Clay?" he calls urgently.

"Almost there, hang tight," comes the response.

With a metal-scratching squeal, the door bends open a little further.

"Clay, they're coming in, Clay, and I have nowhere to hide. They are  _going_  to shoot me."

"I told you, we're close."

The gap widens again, almost big enough for a man to fit through.

"Clay?" Jensen calls again, his body tensing.

With one last push, the wench suddenly drops to the ground. Jensen licks his lips, stepping out from the wall a little bit. Just as a man is about to enter, gunfire rings out from the hallway. Instead of stepping in, the man disappears back out into the hall to meet the oncoming attack. Jensen lets out the breath he is holding, leaning back against the wall for a second to regain his composure before rushing back over to the desk. He grabs his laptop, shoving it back into his bag, then turns around in time to see one of the soldiers coming through the door, pointing his gun at him. The man goes down before Jensen can even react, revealing Pooch now standing in the doorway. The noise in the hallway falls silent behind him.

"You got it?" Pooch asks.

"Oh, I'm fine, thank you," Jensen sasses. "Did I get it? Practically became a human bullet sponge and all he can ask is if I got it." He steps through the door. "Nice timing, by the way, guys. I appreciate the near loss of my bladder control, really. I mean, could you  _be_  any more last minute?"

"Better late than never," Pooch grins.

Clay looks around a corner, waving them forward. "There'll be more coming. Let's grab Aisha and get the hell out of here."

"Don't have to tell  _me_  twice," Jensen says, and they spring down the hall.

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

They meet Cougar at the perimeter of the fence, running hard. They race into the trees, Clay giving out orders as several men chase after them not too far behind.

"Split up, lose 'em in the woods. No one gets followed to the rendezvous, understand? Get there as soon as you're clear."

Without a word, they simultaneously split off in different directions, scattering the force coming after them.

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

Jensen is the first to reach the raft, leaping into it without slowing down. Quickly, he pops the latches on the large black box, lifting up the case of ammo and sliding his computer underneath it. He throws one of his guns into it and reloads the other, then takes a few seconds to attach a large rubber band to his glasses. Pooch runs up just as Jensen fits them snugly back onto his face.

"What the hell is that?" he laughs, throwing a couple guns at Jensen so he can put them in the box. Jensen tosses him a new cartridge for his remaining gun, in return.

"In case I fall out," he says, "These glasses don't float, Pooch. Duh."

Cougar and Aisha get to the raft at nearly the same time, also exchanging weapons. From a short distance, Clay hollers at them.

"Get that raft into the water!"

They begin pushing it out into the current as Clay comes out of the trees, leaping into it as it gets swept out into the river.

"Anyone get followed?" he asks as he puts most of his own weapons into the box, locking it down when he's done.

They shake their heads.

"Actually, it was incredibly easy to lose them," Jensen speculates.

"Yeah, that's what I'm worried about," Clay frowns.

A few minutes later, the sound of a motor can be heard in the distance. A small boat, moving fast and full of armed men, is quickly catching up to them.

"Dammit, where were they hiding  _that_  thing?" Pooch asks.

Clay looks back "Can we outrun it?"

"Nope, but we can outmaneuver it," Pooch grins, pointing to where the river splits up ahead. They guide the raft down the right fork where instantly the rapids increase. Sharp rocks seem to spring up at them from every direction, but they expertly avoid every one. Jensen turns back and looks down the river.

"Well, that did it," he smiles. "They didn't even  _try_  to follow us."

No sooner do the words come out his mouth than gunshots fire at them from the shoreline. They duck down as far as they can into the raft without losing their ability to steer.

"Where are all these guys  _coming_  from?" Jensen asks, firing back at their assailants.

"Jensen, help Pooch," Clay orders. Nodding, Jensen trades spots with Cougar, taking the paddle as Cougar takes aim into the woods. As Aisha, Clay, and Cougar exchange shots with the men on shore, Pooch and Jensen do their best to keep the raft from slamming into the increasing numbers of rocks. Jensen looks ahead down the river.

"Uh, Pooch?" he starts. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yup," Pooch answers, keeping his head low.

"Are we…?" Jensen continues, pointing at himself then at what's in front of them.

"Yup," Pooch smiles.

Jensen nods. "Okay, just making certain that was the plan, here…..Are you sure this is a  _good_  plan?"

A bullet ricochets off the side of the raft, nearly missing both of them. They look at each other.

"Yup," Jensen answers for him, and they aim the raft straight for the waterfall.

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

Jensen stares into the fire.

"That's it," he shrugs, glancing at Cougar. "There were no guys in bio-hazard suits, no long, creepy syringes, no ominous cloud suddenly being blasted into my face-" His eyes widen for a second. "Wait, wait, there  _was_  a cloud," he says. Cougar raises an eyebrow at him. "The dust cloud from the brick." He stands up, pacing. "The generator hut. Think about it – the thing was totally locked down, there weren't that many guards hanging around it, and I was the only one of us who went anywhere near it." He stops pacing. "Cougar. I think we might've just released Max's mutant virus on this whole region."


	9. Fear of the Unknown (Chapter 9)

Cougar follows Jensen with his eyes as he continues to pace back and forth, his words coming out faster and faster.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god, we're in trouble, Cougar. Like deep,  _deep_  trouble. I wonder what the radius is? It could be five feet, in which case I'd be the only one who got infected, which would be a good thing – well, not good for  _me_  of course but for the rest of humanity that'd be the most favorable scenario; or it could be like five miles. What if it's five miles? What if it's five  _hundred_  miles? What if this was Max's plan all along? Get us Losers to release a freaky, freakish, freak virus into the world. Then he really  _could_  pin it on us, and he'd actually be  _right!_ Oh, man, Max? Right? That's just, that's just  _disgusting!_  I can't even fathom the thought! But then I guess that's not really the important thing, is it? We just infected half the world with whatever the hell is it I have – oh my god,  _you_  guys are infected with whatever the hell it is I have! What if you get mad and hulk like I do? You guys can't hulk out! Can you imagine what'll happen if Aisha goes all Firestarter on us? Well, I guess technically it wouldn't be Firestarter 'cause, unless I'm not aware of something, this virus doesn't really give you super powers. Wait, yes it does! It gave me super hearing! I mean, not all the time 'cause obviously I don't have it now, but still, if Aisha only  _sometimes_  has pyrokinesis, that's sometimes too many! She'll go after me first, I know she will! It'll be  _horrible!"_

"Jensen," Cougar cuts in.

Jensen goes on as if he doesn't hear him, talking even faster. "And Clay? I can see him going all The Shining on us, Jack Nicholson styles. And I'd probably  _still_  be the first to go. God, why am I so damn  _annoying_  all the time? _All_  of you would go after me first! But, then, if you guys go after me, I'll feel threatened and then my Punisher mode will kick in and it'll just be an awful blood bath where we all end up dead, and so will the rest of the world 'cause that's how the virus will work – everyone just kills everyone else in like the most horrible fashion imaginable, and then what if the virus goes a step further like the one from the Umbrella Corporation? Oh, god, Cougar! We just jump-started the zombiepocalypse! It'll be…it'll be…"

He sucks in a few short breaths, putting a hand to his chest. As he drops down to his knees, Cougar jumps up, rushing over to him.

"I can't breathe," Jensen wheezes.

"Relax," Cougar tells him.

"I can't!" Jensen barely squeaks out, looking up at Cougar with panic-stricken eyes. He tries desperately to inhale again, the air catching in his throat. With one last pained look, he slumps forward into Cougar's arms. The sniper gently lays him out, checking that his breathing has returned to normal, and sits back with a sigh.

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

Clay steps into the firelight, dropping the computer bag down beside it. He looks at Jensen, still asleep, then up at Cougar.

"Thought he'd be awake by now," he says.

"He was," Cougar frowns.

"And?"

Cougar just shakes his head.

Aisha steps around to sit on the other side of the fire. "We weren't gone that long. If he already had another fit, he's getting worse."

Pooch pushes the bound and bruised prisoner forward into the small clearing, nudging him in the back of the knees to force him down. "Take a break," he orders, then sits down beside Cougar. "So what type of fit was it this time?"

"Panic attack," Cougar answers.

"Panic attack? What the hell was he panicking over?"

Cougar shrugs. "The zombiepocalypse."

Pooch whistles, shaking his head. "We're losin' our boy, Clay."

Clay frowns. "No, we're not. We'll let him sleep it off 'til morning, and then our new friend here," he nods towards the prisoner, "is going to tell him what he told us."

**_~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~_ **

"…sen…Jensen….," he hears a voice calling out to him.

"No, mommy, I don't wanna go to school today," Jensen mutters, trying to wave off the voice.

"Jensen, get your ass up," Pooch orders, kicking him in the leg.

"Ow!" he says, snapping out of the sleep. He rubs his leg. "Not cool, dude."

Pooch lifts an eyebrow at him. "Zombiepocalypse?"

Jensen looks away, rolling his eyes. "Sure, go ahead, make fun of the guy with the mutant virus. You won't be laughing when you catch it."

Shaking his head, Pooch says, "Sorry, man, that special privilege is only for you."

"What do you mean?"

"We're gonna let Barney explain it to you."

"Barney?" Jensen asks, and Pooch looks over towards the purple-bruised face of their prisoner. "Ah," Jensen nods, smiling, "I see the resemblance." He stands and walks over to the soldier, then bends over him slightly. "Hey, there, Barney." The soldier glares at him. "Ooh,  _nasty_  look. You're kinda spunky, aren't ya? I like that. I'm spunky, too, but more in a comic-relief sorta way….well, normally I am, but ya see, I've got this little problem that's making me all wacky - and not in the funny kind of way - and I'm told you're just the guy that can help me out with this little problem."

He reaches down and pulls the gag out of the soldier's mouth. The man looks at Jensen for a second, then flicks his eyes up to see that Clay, Aisha, Cougar, and Pooch are all staring at him with threatening looks in their eyes.

"I don't know that much about the virus," he finally says.

"That's okay, Spunky Barney, I'm gonna crack those files, anyway," Jensen smiles, patting the soldier's head. "But I still like the previews before the show."

The man blows out a breath, annoyed. "First of all, you're not contagious. We would have been sent in with hazard gear if you were."

"Are ya sure?" Jensen asks. "In case you hadn't noticed, Max isn't exactly winning any 'best parent' awards, if you catch my drift."

The man stares at him for a second before speaking. "We were told to use whatever force necessary to bring you in – alive – and to do whatever we wanted with the rest of your team. The only one Max showed any interest in was you."

Jensen frowns, nodding as he brings a hand up to his chin. "I see. So what you're saying is, since I'm the only one Max needs, I'm his only guinea pig; and  _since_  I'm his only guinea pig, that means I'm not contagious. The logic makes sense." He turns back to his team behind him, smiling. "I'm not contagious!"

"Yeah. Hooray for us," Clay says, a touch of sarcasm in his voice and a half smile on his lip. He looks down at the soldier. "Why don't you tell him the rest?"

Jensen turns back as the man speaks. "We were advised to keep our taser usage at a low, that it could cause extremely erratic behavior in the package, that being you."

Jensen laughs. "Tasers could cause erratic behavior?" He looks back over his shoulder, still laughing. "Tasers could cause erratic behavior. This guy is funny." He looks back, then leans forward to whisper at the man. "I'm gonna tell you a little secret…You ready?... _Everything_  causes me to have erratic behavior. Or was the virus not supposed to do that?"

The man smiles. "You stole a prototype. Prototypes have glitches."

"Hey, I didn't  _steal_  anything but computer files," Jensen points out.

"Exactly," the man says, grinning from ear to ear...


	10. Fear of the Unknown (Chapter 10)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh. Huh. I just realized I ran out of the chapters that I'd been posting on LJ a while back. Well, this changes the pacing a little bit.
> 
> See, the ones I was posting on LJ were all edited from their original FFN versions to make the chapters better. I wasn't editing these on AO3 as I went along for that exact reason - I'd already edited them for the LJ version.
> 
> That being said, I'll probably take the time now to go ahead and do those edits before I post the rest of the already finished chapters.

Jensen blinks his eyes a couple times before speaking. "What?"

"You stole the virus along with the files," the soldier says.

"Noooo. All I did was transfer data from the lab computer to the laptop, so unless the virus was in _-_ ohhhh," he says as realization sets in. He looks to Cougar. "It wasn't in the brick. It was  _inside_  the computer."

"And that's all I know about it," the prisoner finishes, "so if you're done with me, I'd like to go now."

Pooch smiles. "Ha ha. Very funny." He takes the gag from Jensen and shoves it back into the guy's mouth.

Jensen, very much in his own head, jumps over to his computer. He talks to himself as he begins pulling up various programs. "Is it even possible? Of course it must be – I'm a living example…I wonder if I could…? No, it wouldn't work without a direct connection….But maybe if I…No, no, that'd be a mess. Why would I even think that?"

Clay squats down in front of him. "Wanna share with the class?"

Jensen stops typing and looks at him. "I have a virus."

"We already knew that."

"No, Clay. I have a virus. That I got from a computer." Clay lifts an eyebrow at him. "How are you guys not getting this? I literally have a computer virus in my brain."

Pooch steps forward. "Hold up. Are you saying you're infected with like that shit that we use Norton for?"

"Norton?" Jensen asks, scrunching up his face. "I would  _never_ use Norton. You can get around that in less than a heartbeat."

"Jensen. Focus on my words," Pooch says, leaning over him. "How did you, a  _human_ , get infected with a  _computer_  virus?"

Jensen goes back to typing as he explains. "I'd say it happened when I stuck my–" he glances up at Aisha, "uh, when I plugged my headset into what I  _thought_  was the right port. Of course, it wasn't and in return for my screw-up, according to what I'm seeing here, it looks like I got an ear chock-full of nasty little-."

He suddenly stops speaking, his hands freezing above the keys and his mouth hanging open slightly on his last word. His eyes remain glued to the screen, but they are glassed over, not seeing anything.

"Jensen," Clay says, snapping his fingers in front the hacker's eyes. Nothing happens. "Jensen," he tries again, speaking louder and trying to shake the man out of his sudden catatonic state. He gets no response, and his back goes rigid as he hears the prisoner stifle a laugh behind him. With no warning, he spins around, swinging hard at the gagged man's jaw, instantly knocking him unconscious. "Asshole," he mutters under his breath.

"So….what do we do, now?" Pooch asks, also snapping his fingers in front of the hacker's eyes.

Clay wipes a hand down his face before answering. "Wait until he comes out of it. He's the only one that has any idea what's going on."

"What if he  _doesn't_  come out of it?" Aisha asks.

"-nanites," Jensen suddenly continues, picking up his ramblings exactly where he had left off. "Man, they're really doing a number on my system… Dammit, this isn't working. I need to hook back up to the net." He finally looks up at the faces of his teammates, who are all staring at him. "What?"

Clay shakes his head. "You're not going up in any tree."

"Okay…" Jensen drags out with confusion, completely unaware of what had just transpired. "I guess I could just  _not_  hack into the data files and hope with some chicken soup and a little TLC, the virus goes away on its own. Anyone volunteering for the TLC?" He waggles his eyebrows at Aisha with a cocky half grin.

"Fuck," Clay mumbles. "Cougar, take him up the damn tree and make sure his ass doesn't fall."

With a quick nod, Cougar stands and hauls Jensen to his feet. As they head out of the clearing, Jensen catches sight of the downed hostage. "When did  _he_  decide to take a nap?"

"Forget it," Cougar mumbles, leading the way to a suitable tree.

**~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~**

"Uh huh, uh huh, oh, that's interesting," Jensen mutters from his perch in the branches. Cougar raises an inquisitive eyebrow and tries to peer over the blond's shoulder. Smiling, Jensen turns his computer to face the sniper, revealing the scorecards for several soccer games. Cougar glares at him.

"What? I had money on some of these," he says innocently before tapping a few keys, switching the screen back to a jumble of green-lettered coding. He works diligently at the keyboard for another forty-five minutes before he draws his hands away, resting them behind his head. "Aaaaaaaaaaaand…..bingo," he grins as a little  _ping,_  along with the 'Final Fantasy' victory music chimes from his laptop speakers. Information suddenly begins to fill the screen, his eyes scanning over the words almost as fast as they appear. "Holy shit," he breathes out, "I'm freakin' Robo Cop!"

**~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~**

Pooch shakes his head as Jensen stomps stiffly around in front of him, mimicking the sounds of robotic limbs moving on a suspension system. "Would you stop? You're not Robo Cop!" he finally spits out, getting annoyed.

"Half man, half machine," Jensen smiles, speaking with a deep voice.

"See, that's where you're wrong," Pooch argues. "Robo Cop actually  _is_ half machine. Having a bunch of tiny robots scrambling your brains doesn't make you a cyborg."

"Ah, but my whole system got rebooted to sync up with the robots, therefore making me more machine right now than human. I rest my case."

Aisha looks up. "Is that what happened in the river? You were 'rebooting?'"

"Yep. Shut down, rewired, and fired back up with superhuman powers. It's actually pretty cool."

"It's not 'cool', Jensen," Clay snaps. "This is a virus. It wasn't made to create super soldiers; it was made to hurt people. We need to figure out a way to get it out of you before it does any more damage."

"They," Jensen corrects. "Before  _they_  do more damage. I figure I've probably got at least a few hundred of the little bastards swimming around up here." He taps a finger to his forehead for emphasis.

"What are  _they_  supposed to do, anyway?" Pooch asks.

"According the files, they're  _supposed_ to attack the part of the brain controlling the nervous system. My fun little experience during the ambush?" he shudders, "That was just a taste of their program design. Unfortunately…or fortunately for me, I guess…" he shakes his head, "the prototypes weren't finished, yet. They got their orders but didn't get the map showing them where to execute."

"So what does that mean, exactly?" Clay asks.

Jensen heaves out an exaggerated sigh. "It  _means_  there's a bunch of little robots running around lost in my brain getting their little pinchers – I wonder if they actually  _have_ pinchers..."

"Focus, Jensen."

"Right, anyway, basically they're just trying to hardwire random systems left and right until they get a cease and desist order…or until I'm dead."

Pooch whistles. "Can't you just reprogram them or something?"

"I  _don't_  know," the hacker says with a shrug.

"You wanna try?" Clay says, twisting the question into an order.

Jensen shrugs again. "I dunno. Maybe. I guess."

"You guess? Do it, Jensen."

"Fiiine," he huffs out with another exaggerated sigh, plopping heavily onto the ground. He picks up a stick and pokes lightly at his computer with it.

"Is he moping?" Aisha asks.

"Pouting, more like it," Pooch frowns.

They watch as Jensen throws the stick and crosses his arms over his chest, glaring up at them. He kicks at a rock on the ground. Cougar watches the childish movements for a few seconds before shaking his head. "He's gone," he quietly states.

"Ya think?" Aisha snaps. "His fits are getting closer together, Clay-"

"You think I don't know that?" he snaps. She scowls at him, and he softens his own enraged features. "Sorry," he mumbles, hastily turning away from the group. He punches his fist into a tree, hard, before stepping further into the woods. Cougar silently gets up and follows. Jensen, for his part, sticks his tongue out at their backs.

"Think if we just shoot him in the leg, he'll snap out of it?" Aisha asks casually.

Jensen sticks his tongue out at her, too.

**~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~**

Clay is sitting on a fallen tree, arms resting on his legs in a slumped, defeated manner. He keeps his head bowed as Cougar slips down onto the tree beside him.

"I don't know how to deal with this," Clay admits. "If he was shot, I could patch him up. Kidnapped, I'd go through whoever it took to get him back. Hell, if he had a normal virus, I probably  _would_  just get him his damn chicken soup. This… I don't even know where to start. The only one who can fix it is him, and he's down the rabbit hole half the damn time." Cougar merely sits and listens, staring straight ahead into nothing as Clay continues. "We've been through a helluvalotta bullshit together. I don't want to lose him now, not like this."

"We won't," Cougar confidently murmurs before leaving his leader with his thoughts.

After a few minutes, Clay sucks in a deep breath and sits up straighter. "No, we won't," he repeats, then stands to make his way back to his team.


End file.
